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friend

UK/frɪnd/ US/fɹɛnd/ very common informal

noun

1.

a person you know well and regard with affection and trust

  • “he was my best friend at the university”
2.

an associate who provides assistance

  • “he”
  • “;”
Synonyms
Antonyms
3.

a person with whom you are acquainted

  • “I have trouble remembering the names of all my acquaintances”
  • “we are friends of the family”
Synonyms
4.

a person who backs a politician or a team etc.

  • “all their supporters came out for the game”
  • “they are friends of the library”
Synonyms
5.

a member of the Religious Society of Friends founded by George Fox (the Friends have never called themselves Quakers)

Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English freend, frend, frende, freynde, friend, frind, frond, frund, vrend, vryend, from Old English frēond, frīond (“friend”, literally “loving [one], lover”), from Proto-West Germanic *friund, from Proto-Germanic *frijōndz (“friend, loved one”), from Proto-Indo-European *preyH- (“to please; to love”), roughly equivalent to free + -nd.

Phrases

  • a friend in need is a friend indeed
  • all-weather friend
  • asking for a friend
  • best friend
  • best friend forever
  • big friend
  • bosom friend
  • boy friend

Related words

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Broader terms

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.